Journal of Stem Cells & Regenerative Medicine - Volume 6 Issue1; 2010

iPS-Cinderella Story in Cell Biology

Webmaster-JSRM — 28 Jan 2011 04:56:33 GMT

Journal:
2010 Vol. 6 (1): p1

Published on:
Apr 2010

Author(s):
Editorial

Dear Friends,

As we step through the frontiers of modern Science, we are all witnesses to the Cinderella story repeating itself in the form of the iPS. The process of re-programming adult somatic cells to derive Induced Pluripotent stem cells (iPS) with the wand of transcription factors and then differentiating them back to adult somatic cells resembles the transformation of Cinderella from a Cinder girl to princess and back to a Cinder girl after the ball; but the iPS-Cinderella is the most fascinating thing ever in cell biology!

From the day iPS first made its headlines when it was first produced by Shinya Yamanaka at Kyoto University in Japan, Stem Cell scientists all over the world are re- doing their experiments so far done using other sources like embryonic and adult Stem cells with the iPS cells exploring their potential to the fullest. A Stem Cell science news page without this magic word of iPS is difficult to imagine these days and Scientists have been successful in growing most of the adult Cell types from iPS cells.

iPS cells was the key to solve the problems of Immune rejection and Immunosupression required when using other allogeneic Stem cell types which had baffled scientists previously. But the issues raised by scientists about the use of viruses and Oncogenes in producing iPS cells were made groundless when scientists in February 2008 published the discovery of a technique that could remove oncogenes after the induction of pluripotency and now it is possible to induce pluripotency using plasmid transfection, piggyback transposon system and piggyback transposon system combined with a non viral vector system. The word of the day is pIPS which are protein-induced Pluripotent stem cells which are iPS cells that were generated without any genetic alteration of the adult cell. This research by the group of Sheng Ding in La Jolla, California made public in April 2009 showed that the generation of poly-arginine anchors was sufficient to induce pluripotency and thus paving the way for use of iPS in humans

In this issue of JSRM we have Dr.Yukio Nakamura writing about Disease specific iPS cells which could serve as tools for understanding the underlying mechanisms of diseases which are less understood so far or which could be used as study models for drug discovery for disease therapy. Adding another positive futuristic step to this is the paper by Kataoka et al., who have shown that the iPS cells could be grown in a three dimensional scaffold in which their earlier studies have shown feasibility of a 200 time passaging of mouse foteal epithelial stem cells and neural stem cells. The strengths of Nakamura et al and that of Kataoka et al combined virtually, we see a much brighter picture for the iPS cells which might be in future much cleaner, be grown in an undifferentiated manner and be stored for long; then instead of cord blood storage all I dream is whenever a child is born we may simply custom make iPS for that child and cryopreserve it; May the dreams come true!

Dr. Sheikh Riazuddin's article about lin-c-kit+ BM-derived stem cells repair Infarcted Heart and Dr.Pravin Potdar's article about Mesenchymal Stem Cells from adipose tissue give some basic understandings of the possible clinical translations.

Happy reading!

Yours sincerely,

The Editorial team.

Induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells offer a powerful new tool for the life sciences

28 Jan 2011 04:56:33 GMT

Journal:
2010 Vol. 6 (1): p2-9

Published on:
Apr 2010

Author(s):
Yukio Nakamura

Abstract:
Stem cell biology started with the analysis of somatic stem cells that function to maintain the adult body. We now know that the body is maintained by regeneration of a wide range of cell types, such as skin cells, blood cells and gastrointestinal mucous cells, from somatic stem cells. This regenerative activity is essential for survival. Regenerative medicine was initiated to identify therapies that support and/or accelerate this natural regenerative ability. For example, bone marrow transplantation is a therapy for reconstituting hematopoiesis from the hematopoietic stem cells present in the donor bone marrow. The successful development of a protocol for obtaining human embryonic stem (ES) cells prompted medical scientists to utilize human ES cells for regenerative medicine. However, use of these cells raises ethical issues as they are derived from human embryos. An alternative approach using ES-like pluripotent stem cells has the considerable advantage that it does not necessitate use of human embryos. Pluripotent stem cells can be induced from terminally differentiated somatic cells by the introduction of only four defined factors. The products of this method are termed "induced pluripotent stem (iPS)" cells. iPS cells have considerable promise as a substitute for ES cells not only for regenerative medicine but also in many other fields. For example, liver and heart cells derived from iPS cells can be used in pharmaceutical research. In addition, iPS cell technology opens new avenues of disease research, for example, by construction of so-called "disease-specific iPS cells" from a patient's somatic cells.

Keywords:
ES cells, iPS cells, Regenerative medicine, Disease specific iPS cells

Application of a Thermo-Reversible Gelation Polymer, Mebiol Gel, for Stem Cell Culture and Regenerative Medicine

28 Jan 2011 04:56:33 GMT

Journal:
2010 Vol. 6 (1): p10-14

Published on:
Apr, 2010

Author(s):
Ken Kataoka and Nam-ho Huh

Abstract:
Recent studies have revealed the possible utility of a three-dimensional culture system using a thermo-reversible gelation polymer, Mebiol Gel. It is a purely synthesized biocompatible copolymer composed of thermoresponsive polymer blocks [poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-co-n-butyl methacrylate) poly(NIPAAm-co-BMA)] and hydrophilic polymer blocks (polyethylene glycol [PEG]). Mebiol Gel is characterized by its temperature-dependent dynamic visccoelastic properties. Mebiol Gel is used as a biocompatible scaffold for three-dimensional culture without any toxicity. Representative biological scaffolds for three-dimensional culture, i.e. type I collagen and Matrigel, interact with cells and affect cellular functions, but Mebiol Gel hardly showed such effects. Because of its innertness, Mebiol Gel enables clonal expansion of single stem cells. Application of Mebiol Gel to tissue defects in animal models revealed that Mebiol Gel enhanced tissue regeneration with activation of stem cells and prevention of inflammation. Thus, Mebiol Gel is suitable for preparation of cells for transplantation and is useful for direct application to promote regeneration of damaged tissues in vivo.

Keywords:
Thermo-reversible gelation polymer; Mebiol Gel; Stem cells; Three-dimensional culture; Clonal expansion

Lin-c-kit+ BM-derived stem cells repair Infarcted Heart

1 Apr 2010 04:56:33 GMT

Journal:
2010 Vol. 6 (1): p15-25

Published on:
Apr, 2010

Author(s):
Khan M, Mohsin S, Khan SN, Riazuddin S

Abstract
Myocardial infarction is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. Bone marrow contains different types of stem cells capable of differentiating into cardiomyocytes. Therefore, we hypothesized that bone marrow contains a lin-c-kit+ progenitor cell pool with the ability to home to the infarcted region and improve the cardiac function. BM-derived stem cells (BMSCs) from Green fluorescent protein (GFP) expressing transgenic mice C57BL/6 (n = 6) were isolated by c-kit labeled Microbeads. Lin-c-kit+ BMSCs co-cultured with rat neonatal cardiomyocytes were able to express cardiac marker and form intercellular connections with rat myocytes. Myocardial infarction was produced in the experimental animals C57BL/6 Wild type (n = 10) by permanent ligation of the Left anterior descending (LAD) artery. BMSCs enriched for c-kit were transplanted in the border zone area of the infarction. Cardiac function analyzed by Millar's Apparatus after 4 weeks of transplantation showed improvement. BMSCs were able to form intercellular connections and new blood vessel formation as determined by Connexin 43 and CD31 respectively. Lin-c-kit+ BMSCs were able to align with the host myocardium, participate in angiogenesis and thus improve the cardiac function.

Keywords:
Stem cells, myocardial infarction, angiogenesis, cardiac function, BMSC differentiation

Establishment and Molecular Characterization of Mesenchymal Stem Cell Lines Derived From Human Visceral & Subcutaneous Adipose Tissues

1 Apr 2010 04:56:33 GMT

Journal:
2010 Vol. 6 (1): p26-35

Published on:
Apr, 2010

Author(s):
Pravin Dattatray Potdar, Jyoti Prakash Sutar

Abstract:
Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), are multipotent stem cells that can differentiate into osteoblasts, chondrocytes, myocytes and adipocytes. We utilized adipose tissue as our primary source, since it is a rich source of MSCs as well as it can be harvested using a minimally invasive surgical procedure. Both visceral and subcutaneous adipose tissue (VSAT, SCAT respectively) samples were cultured using growth medium without using any substratum for their attachment. We observed growth of mesenchymal like cells within 15 days of culturing. In spite of the absence of any substratum, the cells adhered to the bottom of the petri dish, and spread out within 2 hours. Presently VSAT cells have reached at passage 10 whereas; SCAT cells have reached at passage 14. Morphologically MSCs obtained from visceral adipose tissue were larger in shape than subcutaneous adipose tissue. We checked these cells for presence or absence of specific stem cell molecular markers. We found that VSAT and SCAT cells confirmed their MSC phenotype by expression of specific MSC markers CD 105 and CD13 and absence of CD34 and CD 45 markers which are specific for haematopoietic stem cells. These cells also expressed SOX2 gene confirming their ability of self-renewal as well as expressed OCT4, LIF and NANOG for their properties for pluripotency & plasticity. Overall, it was shown that adipose tissue is a good source of mesenchymal stem cells. It was also shown that MSCs, isolated from adipose tissue are multipotent stem cells that can differentiate into osteoblasts, chondrocytes, cardiomyocytes, adipocytes and liver cells which may open a new era for cell based regenerative therapies for bone, cardiac and liver disorders.

Keywords:
stem cell, mesenchymal stem cells, adipose tissue, and molecular markers